Ever worry about how women in the Biblical times fared when it was their time of the month? Well don't. Because they had a whole freaking tent! A red one, no less. And they would just hang out in there on the straw and relax and stuff... the whole entire time! Brilliant. (I'll be setting up a red tent in my backyard next month if any ladies care to join me.)

Anyhow, this tells the story of Dinah (of Old Testament fame) from her own perspective. She was the only daughter of Jacob, and sister of Joseph-and-the-Amazing-Technicolor-Dream-Coat. Cool, huh? I LOVE Donny Osmond. (Donny is not technologically in this story.) The first half was super interesting. Life in the BC wasn't easy for women, despite their fancy red tent. But there came a point toward the middle when the shock wore off and it all started to feel very day-to-day-ish. A large section could have been summed up with something like, "And so it was that they dwelt in the wilderness for many years and begot many children but otherwise nothing much happened." That might be my ADD talking. Don't think so, though. I'm pretty sure I'm right about that. Then a huge event happened and the story took off again. What kept me turning pages from that point was anticipating Dinah's moment of redemption. However, when that moment finally came, it fell just short of satisfying. Like when you ask one of your kids to scratch your back and they sort of brush their hand softly over the place that itches.

My only other complaint was the author's characterization of Donny Osmond. I mean Joseph. He started off as a good kid, but when Dinah met him after he had been sold into Egypt, became a powerful man, and had forgiven his brothers; suddenly the story was that he hadn't really gotten over what his brothers had done to him, and he was a weak-minded, arrogant jerk who garnered no respect from the people of Egypt. That's not the Donny Osmond I know. I mean Joseph. According to "Any Dream Will Do (reprise)", that's not how it all went down.

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